Is a default date as reported by a creditor to the credit ref agencies non-negotiable if no payment or acknowledgement of a debt has taken place?

Nice one. Will fire off a CCA request later today. I'll bet they can't provide me with what they are required to do. Thanks for the advice.

Can I string them along with half a dozen token monthly payments and then pull the SB card when the time comes? Or by making a payment am I acknowledging the debt and liable again for the whole lot?

Excellent advice. Thank you. I suppose the issue for me now is trying to stall on a payment agreement schedule with them because by doing so I am acknwoledging the debt aren't I? You know........if I thought they would accept a payment of 20% of the o/s sum to go away I'd pay that just to get them off my backs. I wonder whether it's worth going through the motions of asking them for paperwork and proof on this card account which goes back to 2001, was defaulted in 2005 and for whichthey are now seeking payment in the hope that this can drag out until the 6 year timeframe is hit???

Reading this with interest. I received a mailing from Cabot yesterday morning saying that they have bought a Citifinancial account, which has been dormant since 2005. In the same envelope was a letter on Citi headed paper saying that the debt had been assigned to Cabot. Interesting that both documents have a slight error in my address, replicated in both documents - they have clearly originated from the same database. Never heard of Cabot until Creditexpert notified me that they have done an unrecorded search on my file in the last couple of weeks. Was rather hoping this would go away having heard nothing for 5-and-a-half years. I notice the phone calls began last night when I returned home to 5 missed 0800 calls. Have no intention of ringing them back. THe search on my credit file also included the addition of the line 'File updated September 2010'. Does this mean that any chance I might have had of this debt dropping off my file has gone and I'm back to square 1? I find it hard to believe that Citi did not pursue me for this 5 years ago - my other creditors sold on their debts to collection agencies and I paid all them off years ago. Tried for hours searching for non-existent paperwork on whether this happened to Citicard too - couldn't find anything though. I did have an Associates Card (?sold on to Citi?). I suppose the REAL question is........despite my slight doubts......and the fact that I don't dispute there was a default in 2005..........should I just swallow the bitter pill and pay them?? What I don't want is another black mark on my credit file for 6 years......given that the last of these....the Citicard account, was due to be the last to go next year??? CP